FACTBOX-Cairns Group of agricultural exporting countries

June 7 - Nineteen leading agricultural exporting nations, including Australia, Brazil and South Africa, kicked off talks in Bali on Sunday aimed at pushing forward troubled world trade negotiations, officials said.

As well as seeking to move forward the stalled Doha trade round, the Cairns Group of nations is also expected to take aim at U.S. and European dairy export subsidies.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is due to attend the three-day meeting in the resort of Bali, as well as officials from the European Union and India.

Following are details about the group :

* The Cairns Group is a coalition of 19 agricultural exporting countries, which account for over 25 percent of the world's agricultural exports.

* The group consists of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay.

* It aims to push for the liberalisation of trade in agricultural exports during the current WTO Doha Round of negotiations.

* Its objectives, within the framework for agricultural trade, include deep cuts to all tariffs including tariff peaks and removal of tariff escalation; the elimination of all trade-distorting domestic subsidies; the elimination of export subsidies and clear rules to prevent circumvention of export subsidy commitments. Source: Reuters, www.cairnsgroup.org